Disney Clones Human Faces To Make More Realistic Robots

To make its Disney theme parks’ animatronic characters more realistic, Zurich, Switzerland-based Disney Research department has developed a way to clone faces.

The process, called ‘Physical Face Cloning’, first requires a 3D scan of a real human head/subject in various facial expressions—to gather data on the how the real person moves, and his/her skin’s elasticity and thickness.

The result is a realistic-looking robotic head composed of a 3D-printed mold of the face layered with silicon to resemble synthetic skin.

The robot head would accurately mimic human expressions, and even feature details such as wrinkles.